Independent Obervatory: Violence in Honduras Climbing to Even More Disastrous Heights

Estimated Homicide Rate for 2013 at 83 per 100,000 Inhabitants

EspañolThe Observatory of Violence, established by the Autonomous National University of Honduras (UNAH), has announced that for 2013, homicides in the country could surpass 83 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The director of the UNAH, Migdonia Ayestas, makes that claim “by calculating what’s happening at the moment and comparing it to the numbers of violent deaths during the first six months [of 2013] from the official records. If violent deaths keep rising, we are going to end this year with [a rate of] over 83 deaths.”

The UNAH has had to calculate and count the violent deaths, because the police have declined to release any recent homicide rates. Consistent with this estimated rise in homicides, they allege, there has also been an increase in violence against women.

“We don’t have data that can inform us how this year will end regarding violent deaths . . . we only have information from the first six months of this year, where the homicide rate was 41 per 100,000 inhabitants.”

In response to these findings, the UNAH has accused the Criminal Investigation Subdivision of not prioritizing this problem. The organization has called upon the national police to meet and release the official records of violence, but they’ve yet to receive a response.